


Enforcer

by the_witching_hours



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 19:31:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11214765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_witching_hours/pseuds/the_witching_hours
Summary: Paranormal/Supernatural AUHarper is an Enforcer with SHIELD who's been given what maybe an impossible task, get Bucky Barnes to cooperate in a murder investigation





	Enforcer

There were days when she loved her job, really there were. But when her day began with being called into the Captain’s office, Harper _knew_ it was going to suck.

Stepping in the large double doors, Harper crossed the threshold into the large atrium of her department and heard one of the enforcers answering the phones.

“Supernatural Hunting, Investigation, and Enforcement of Law Department, How may I direct your call?”

“I’d just stick with SHIELD, Daisy. It’s easier to say.” Harper commented. Daisy didn’t even look up to meet Harper’s eyes, just smirked and flipped Harper off as she passed. Harper snorted.

An enforcer in the supernatural world was like a police officer in the human world; they enforced the laws, and kept the peace. Most of the time, this meant Harper tracked down some vampire who was a messy eater or who forgot to mind-wipe his food, and brought him to the council for judgement. _Most_ of the time. Then there were those times when other enforcers had tried and _failed_ on a case, and Harper had to step in and take over.

Harper was unique, a hybrid; her mother was a siren and her father was a dragon shifter. She inherited traits from both. Her siren half was more physically present than the dragon, but they were equal parts of her personality. She could shift to a dragon form, a huge scaled, charcoal grey, fire breathing, flying lizard, anytime she wished; within the confines of the law of course. But if she found herself thrown into a large depository of saltwater, she grew a long, finned tail in a color matching her dragon’s hide, and gills along the sides of her neck. Harper tried to avoid falling in the ocean if she could.

Sirens had a human appearance and shifters were dual-natured, so she looked like a normal human most of the time, though her eyes were more fluid. The moment her dragon rose, her eyes changed from a cool, human blue, to an amber-gold with a slitted pupil. The rise of her siren powers was heralded by a more subtle shift to sea green. When she was out in the “normal” world, Harper wore colored contacts of a deep chocolate brown.

When she reached the captain’s door, she knocked before entering. Seeing Nat and Clint already sitting in the office had Harper on edge. Those two were a near perfect team. But if they were in the office they needed help, and if _they_ needed help…

“Don’t pull that face Harp, you haven’t even heard what we have to say yet.” Nat whined. Harper hadn’t realized that her face had slipped into a scowl, but she made no effort to rearrange it now. The succubus in front of her pouted, but her partner the wolf shifter, smiled.

“You know you love us Harper.”

“Mmm, but when I come in here and see you both waiting for me? Not so much.” She cocked an eyebrow in the direction of Captain Rogers, who was sitting behind his desk, leaning back in his chair, watching the back and forth attentively.

“All done?” he asked calmly.

“Yes Cap, I’m done. What mess of theirs am I cleaning up today?” She crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall across from his desk; choosing to ignore the affronted looks on her coworkers faces.

“Got bodies. Found them in a territory whose alpha is too high up the food chain for Barton to have any pull over.”

The country was divided into territories, like cities but bigger. Each territory ruled was by an alpha. Each of those alphas came together to form the council. An alpha was not always a shifter, just the most powerful supernatural in the territory.

“And I’m just hearing about this now? Must be well hidden bodies.”

“More like the bodies are all in really small pieces,” Nat corrected, slumping in her chair looking tired and uncomfortable.

“What is this guy? I know most shifters don’t shred their kills. Mages either.”

“Dragon.” The captain looked right at her, knowing she would react badly.

Blood drained from her face and her heartbeat raced; both things her vampire captain was aware of.

“Rogers, if this goes sideways, I’m not gonna be much help. _No one_ is.”

“What’d’ya mean?” Clint asked loudly, “You’re way more powerful than me, that’s enough, right?”

“In this case, it’s not…”

Now, there was the possibility that this guy wasn’t directly involved and would be cooperative. But the chance that he would be trouble was also there. If he was, Harper was the best choice. Not that it meant much. Harper may have been the apex predator at SHIELD, but she was only a half breed. Sure, her shifter half was at the top of the food chain, but a full blood dragon beat a half blood one anyday.

“So basically, I am being sent in in the hopes that _if_ this guy causes trouble, I _might_ take longer than most to kill?”

Captain Rogers hung his head; it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Dragons beat everyone. They were the longest lived of the supernaturals and had the most power. They mostly kept to themselves, so policing them wasn’t really an issue. But when a dragon did decide to cause trouble, there wasn’t much to be done other than put forth your strongest player and cross your fingers.

“What’s the guy’s name?” Might as well know who it was she’d be going toe-to-toe with.

“Barnes.”

“Fuck me running,” Harper growled as she banged her head back into the wall. She missed the look Nat and Clint exchanged; they knew how shitty her chances were.

“Give me the file and address.”

Harper’s dragon was a warm presence along her spine as she drove out to Barnes’ home address. The dragon lent her reassurance, logical thinking, and just a hint of superiority. So while Harper knew that the investigation she’d been saddled with was extremely dangerous, she also knew that she was the best equipped to handle it, or at least the dragon in her knew. The large, scaly being she shared her soul with was more calm in most situations. You would be too if you knew that you could crush most opponents by simply stepping on them. The dragon was still cautious and calculating, but much less wary in general. As she approached the address on the file, Harper let her dragon half take more control.

————————————————————-

James Barnes was surprised to hear who his unexpected guest was. It angered him that some lowly enforcer thought to shove their way into his home. Irritated, he made his way downstairs from his study to where his house manager had told him the enforcer was waiting. And then immediately cursed his lack of shifter staff; a shifter would have told him that the enforcer was a dragon. A half-breed of some sort, but still a dragon, which explained the lack of forewarning; no self-respecting dragon would call ahead. Checking his irritation, James entered the room.

“What brings a SHIELD enforcer to my home?”

“A crime has been committed, obviously. Were you involved?”

“I’ve committed many crimes.” Barnes hedged, smiling a little, “You’re going to have to be clear about which one you are speaking.”

Harper drew a deep breath, trying not to let the dragon in front of her see how annoyed she was.

“There have been bodies found in and around this territory, shredded and left for anyone to find. Now, my guess is that you _aren’t_ involved, at least not directly. But this is your territory, so you must have at least an idea what’s been happening.”

“What makes you say that?” Barnes’ eyes flashed dragon for a split second.

“Any territory alpha should know what’s going on within their borders. But a dragon? No dragon worth their scales lets anything happen without their permission.” Harper met his gaze, which was a bold move after she essentially accused him of murder, but to look away after a statement like that would make her look weak, and she couldn’t afford that.

Barnes held her stare, he had no idea where this little half-dragon had come from, but what he was more interested in was how he had missed her. He’d been in this town for a year now and territory alpha for a little over 9 months, and he’d never seen or heard of her before.

“Who are you?”

Harper kept herself from rolling her eyes. “I asked first. Are you or are you not involved in the murders?”

“If you answer _my_ question, I will answer _yours_.” He countered, a smirk working its way across his lips.

Harper’s eyes narrowed momentarily, she stood her ground, hands now loosely in her pockets and raised an eyebrow.

“I would be more amenable to your questions, Enforcer, if I knew your name. It is tedious to refer to you by your title.”

“I don’t see how my name is any easier to use than my title. But if you give me your word that you will answer my questions truthfully, I will tell you my name.”

Now his eyes narrowed. To give his word meant he would be bound to tell her the truth. It would be easy enough to find this enforcer’s name if he wanted, but this woman was intriguing, something he couldn’t say about much in his life. So he was willing to play along… _for now_.

“I give you my word.”

Harper blinked, surprised that he’d given in so easily, and now suspicious as to why.

“My name is Harper Coulson.”

James’ dragon was rolling happily in his head; hoarding this knowledge like it hoarded all its treasures. The fact that the dragon had labeled this woman’s name as a treasure was a bit startling, but James just smiled wider.

“Harper Coulson,” he repeated, like he was tasting her name on his tongue, “Very well, I was not and am not involved in the crime you have described. I am loathe to admit that I am, in fact, unaware of these occurrences,” he looked almost sheepish as his eyes slid away from hers. That admission must have burned his ego quite a bit, knowing this gave Harper and idea.

“What would you say to assisting in the investigation then?” she asked, tilting her head slightly to the right.

Barnes’ eyes narrowed again, but he met her eyes again, “What would ‘assisting’ entail exactly?”

“Well, it’s your territory, I would just give you extra resources really. We’d work together, find the perpetrator, then find a suitable punishment and carry it out.”

“A partnership then?” Barnes asked, an almost boyish smile on his face; ‘almost’ because there was a glimmer of dark mischief behind his eyes.

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Harper shrugged, “sure.”


End file.
